Whoa boy, where do you start on a film like
Sudden Fury? Firstly, it has the honour of starring the late
and missed legend, David (The Beyond, The Last Hunter,
Rat Man, The Black Cat) Warbeck in one of his final
roles. David is seen in his cameo clearly enjoying himself and
why not? He always championed the Italian films he starred in,
unlike some others who made out the old genre was silly. David
was THE MAN!

In his final years, he did well off property but, even though
extremely ill, appeared in a handful of low budget UK releases,
just for the Hell of it I suppose, and to use his name to help
out. Whatever money was spent on him in this movie was very well
spent, for his character, though in a few scenes only, has a
meaty and memorable aura.

So let's mention Darren Ward. This guy is a micro budget maestro
of guns and gore. The film which followed this one (this was his
debut full length release) was called A Day of Violence
and it upped the ante on the sheer brutality. It had a better
central cast and an improved Nick Rendell. It also featured in a
tiny cameo by the one and only, Giovanni Lombardo Radice (a.k.a.
John Morghen)! The man of a thousand or so violent exits from
films such as City of the Living Dead (The Gates of
Hell), Cannibal Apocalypse, House on the Edge of
the Park and
Cannibal Ferox (Make
Them Die Slowly).

So many years pass between films for
Darren Ward, which is a shame. It's an uphill struggle for low
budget cult directors in the UK. However, as I reported on
Severed Cinema mid 2015 (here)
the final part of his splatter trilogy,
Beyond Fury, is coming...

However, on to
Sudden Fury. We begin and meet Jimmy, a loud voiced suited
up guy slapping the hell out of a lad because he's messed up a
job and started a few issues. He does sound like a sales floor
manager conducting a morning meeting. ÂDon't fuck with me!
You fuckin' moron I'll blow your brains out!Â He threatens
Leech, with a gun, becoming angrier by the minute. He does adore
the word ÂFuck!Â Leech gives the money back owed to his
boss. Randell, then starts being arrogant. Jimmy gets on his
phone and calls Randell, who happens to be outside. Leach fills
the back of his pants as Randell, who's like a Krays sort of
dude, steps inside. Random senseless violence breaks out!

Randell is concerned about going to war with another boss,
Harris, over this screw up that's happened. He calls up Walker,
who's a hard kind of clean up guy. As Randell and Jimmy agree,
even if Walker fails when going after Harris, they cannot be
traced. There's a man in the Harris camp and besides, Walker is
a pro.

Randell receives a call from Pike, who's a posh and campy David
Warbeck. He has two of Randell's men tied to a chair and is
happily using a blow torch on their faces. ÂYou sick son of a
bitch!Â spits Randell. ÂYes, aren't I?Â laughs
Warbeck, totally relishing his role as Pike. ÂThis diabolical
torture will continue until Mr. Harris gets all of his shipment
back.Â

It seems their day is getting worse. They organise Walker and he
will be sent in when the meeting is made for the handover.
Enter, Walker, who's a screw-faced Â80s slick and smooth sassy
mouthed fella. Â£750k to do the job. A choice of weapons, and the
dangling carrot of a million if Walker can take everyone out.
Afterwards, Randell tells Jimmy that he wants Walker dead.

The meeting is held at a stereotypical warehouse. Pike camps it
up to Walker. ÂYou've been a naughty bunny. I've seen the
pictures!Â Walker is famous in the underworld. Of course
it's down to a gory shootout to sort everything. Chest and
throat shots galore. Walker is left shot in the arm and the leg,
but is firm chinned about it all. Outside, Jimmy confronts him,
but Walker is way too hardcore. He injures Jimmy, telling him to
pass on a message. He's coming after Randell.

In solid and pure Italian crime caper style, he will keep his
word and what you have to realise with a Darren Ward film is,
yeah not all the actors are professional -- suited more to a
YouTube homemade 5 minute movie in the woods -- but the blood
squibs and gore are so over-the-top it makes the viewing
essential.

ÂWhy don't you piss off somewhere, marry some bitch and get
some sun?Â says Alex Lenzi (awesome surname), Walker's
friend as he lays up healing his wounds. Alex's idea is to let
this all cool off for a while. Walker agrees to take a couple of
months off, even though he has some of Randall's gear with him
-- 2.5 million pounds worth.

Meanwhile, Randell has a chat with Jimmy who's hobbling about on
crutches. Jimmy is threatened and punched a bit. The gang man
decides he wants a face to face with Harris, and to twist
everything and get Harris' help. Or so it seems, until he's in
the Harris household with one of his mates who's been
undercover. Harris and his family are slaughtered, one lad is
killed wearing a Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt and is reading a
Viz comic -- nothing to do with the plot, I just thought it was
cool! Randell also kills his mate because he's a bad bastard.
Now Randell has complete distribution of the South and South
West. Jimmy is a bit stunned to find out his boss killed the
kids. He's obviously a bit more human, I mean, he can act better
as well.

It's not long before Alex is chucked in a van after leaving a
pub, with bag over his head. He's severely tortured in a
warehouse with a baseball bat and other things, all in rather
graphic fashion. ÂWhere is Walker and where is the coke?Â
Meanwhile, Walker is seen coming out of the house letting a lady
in. The torture continues, but Alex finds a way out, calling the
central torturer, Lennox, a ÂNigger fucking son of a bitch!Â
He gets shot for that. It transpires that Lennox knows Walker
only too well.

There's a lengthy sexual caper with Walker and the lady. Randell
organises a visit. Walker receives an anonymous tip off and goes
all Â80s action hero facials. In a shocking move for the story,
someone blasts the Hell out of Randell as he drinks wine in his
nice back garden. We don't see who did it, of course. That's
good writing, keep us guessing, see?

Walker dresses up in black, tools up, and heads off to try and
save his friend, plus earn some sweet badass payback. All the
while suffering flashback to his days in the military, filmed
somewhere near the city probably.

Darren Ward can take about a hundred quid (maybe) to spend on a
film, and still have change for a packet of crisps. The man is a
genius when it comes to action set pieces and gore. This film
has so many bullet wounds, and thumbs gouging throats, saw
blades in necks, and much more.
Sudden Fury is a VHS shop late night beer and pizza dream.
It doesn't know how to stop. It keeps giving you more and more
blood.

Okay, so the acting, the music and the vast majority of the
script sucks on a shotgun barrel, but this film has so much more
going for it. A casual viewer who simply doesn't know the art of
an amazing brutal nasty will probably switch off not getting the
Â70s love letter this film simply is. In fact,
Sudden Fury can be seen as a homage to John Woo's glory
days. As a matter of fact, there's a neat moment in the finale
when you can see
The Killer. Besides, like John's best, gangsters are
expendable insects and everybody shits bullets from each
orifice.

Sudden Fury,
released on DVD by Boudicca. The extras are down to a trailer
and a 17min short which is like an early blueprint for the main
feature starring Nick Rendell and Paul Murphy, plus a quarry and
guns. There's a 40 plus minute special effects behind the scenes
thing which drags a bit, as do the outtakes. I would have loved
some interviews.

Having contacted Darren after I did the article on the upcoming epic, Beyond Fury, I discovered you can buy the DVD of Sudden Fury from him on Ebay (here) and he'll sign it up for you, which is well worth it.